DEA Press Conference on Canadian Raid

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Slimy DEA Agents gleefully talk about their invasion of Canada and raid and arrest of Canadian Citizens. Welcome to the 51st State….. Canada.

DEA administrator Karen Tandy said Emery and his organization are “one of the Attorney General’s most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets — one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada.”
5 things you can do to help Marc Emery by Dana Larsen (02 Aug, 2005) Please do your part to keep the US drug war out of Canada!

Marc during last summer`s legalization tour I have received many emails and messages from people asking me what they can do to help prevent Marc Emery from being extradited to the US to face a lifetime in prison. Here are five simple, concrete things that anyone can do to make a positive impact on this situation.

If you can donate even two hours of spare time each week to doing some of these five things you will be making a real difference.

The first three things can and should be done by anyone in the world who supports this effort. The last two are for Canadians only.

Please don’t just read this list and then do nothing. This is a very crucial battle and one we must win.

1) Call Irwin Cotler regularly.

Canada’s Justice Minister is Irwin Cotler. It is largely his decision whether Canada will extradite Marc Emery. Cotler’s biography describes him as a “peace activist” who has devoted his life to supporting international human rights, free speech, freedom of religion, women’s rights, minority rights, war crimes justice and prisoners’ rights, but he has not proven himself to be a friend to the cannabis culture.

Please call each of these three phone numbers twice every week, and politely repeat your message every time. The goal is to keep these lines constantly tied up with calls and voice mails about Marc Emery, so that the Justice Department phones are ringing steadily about the Emery case every day for the next few months.

When you call, always be very polite. Your goal is not to get into a debate with Cotler’s secretary. Just say that you are calling because it would “shock your conscience” for Marc Emery to be extradited to the US for alleged marijuana seeds crimes committed on Canadian soil. Say that you believe that if Marc has broken the law in Canada, he should be tried in Canada, under Canadian laws.

If they say you are calling the wrong number ask what number you should call. But still call them again the next week regardless.

No matter where you are in the world, please call all three of these phone numbers every week. We definitely need active, vocal support from Americans and also from the international community.

If you have access to a fax machine then please also send a daily or weekly fax supporting Marc Emery to each of these Justice Department fax numbers:

Fax: 613-992-6762Fax: 514-283-2407Fax: 613-990-7255

Don’t bother sending emails to Cotler. Emails are easily ignored, deleted, or filtered out as spam. Weekly phone calls and faxes are much more effective in creating awareness and political pressure.

2) Donate and buy

This raid means the end of Marc Emery Marijuana Seeds, which was the pioneering business which Marc Emery used to fund activist efforts around the world. Marc, Michelle and Greg will all have huge legal bills, while at the same time losing their assets, income and livelihood.

Money-losing projects like Pot-TV will need to be curtailed, political activities will be shut down, Cannabis Culture Magazine will struggle greatly, and all our staff will suffer layoffs and paycuts.

Please make a donation or purchase with the BC Marijuana Party, and buy a subscription to Cannabis Culture magazine. Our store is still fully stocked with books, pipes, bongs, clothes and other cannabis products. The only thing we don’t sell now is seeds! We need your business to survive, so please come down and pick up some new paraphernalia.

3) Write to Canadian media

Please contact all of the following newspapers and magazines, with a new letter every week.

Don’t write a big long letter. Just write a short, snappy letter which offers your opinion on American efforts to extradite Marc Emery.

Don’t just send one mass email to all of these media at once. Instead send them each individually the same emailed letter.

Write one letter every week, different letters but on the same topic, and send them to every one of these media outlets every week.

A more complete list of Canadian media outlets can be found here: http://mapinc.org/cmap/press.htm

If you are in Canada, then contact both your MP and your MLA. Don’t send them an email, make a phone call. Try to make an appointment for a personal visit. Also have every one of your friends and family members each make their own phone call as well. The more calls they receive the better.

You are not seeking your MP and MLA to support the legalization of marijuana. Just say that you are calling because you want your elected representative to oppose the extradition of any Canadian to a foreign country when their actions are not considered a serious crime in Canada.

Remind them that Emery is the leader of a legitimate political party, that the Canadian government has knowingly collected taxes from his US seed sales for a decade, and that Emery has operated openly without interference from Canadian police since 1998.

Tell your MP and MLA that Canada should not be sending political activists to jail in foreign countries, especially when their actions are not even considered to be an “arrestable offence” in Canada.

Your MP is your federal Member of Parliament. You can find your MP here: http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/house/PostalCode.asp?Source=SM

Your MLA is your Provincial Member of the Legislature. You can find your MLA online here:

If you are in Canada, then try to put on a rally in your community to protest this incursion of the US Drug War into Canada.

The focus of your rally should not be on the marijuana laws, but rather that Canadians within Canada are not subject to US law. The Canadian courts and people have decided that selling marijuana seeds is a trivial, non-arrestable offence.

The Canadian government has steadily collected sizable taxes from Marc Emery’s US seed sales for 10 years. If Emery has broken the law in Canada then he should be charged and tried here. If he has broken no laws in Canada then he should not be extradited to the US for a life sentence. Who will be next? Will US police start extraditing Canadians who perform gay marriages for visiting Americans?

Try to put together a rally for Saturday, September 10, to coincide with the rally planned for Vancouver. If there is a US consulate office in your city then that is a good place to rally at. Otherwise find a park or other government building.

Please contact us at the BC Marijuana Party to let us know what you are up to. Tell us if you have contacted your elected representatives, if are planning a rally, and what else you are doing to help preserve Canadian sovereignty and keep the US drug war out of Canada.

Thank you for your help. Marc Emery has devoted his life to ending the drug war and ensuring that marijuana seeds are available to anyone who wants to grow this wondrous herb. Please follow his lead, become active, and help to end this vicious war.